The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1887-07-12

| with this feature OF the exhibition. A
blind musician named Parker was the
orchestra for the evening.
The initiation of the new enterprise
was thus not specially promising.
although / tried to console myself with
the hope that bad beginning would
make a good ending. A couple of
days later We were EN- route eastward,
and made our first halt at Geneseo.
The audience did not number more
than score. At La Sale it rained as
if the foundations of the great deep
had again broken mp, and the attend
ance in the crsmped and foul-smelling
room i'm the court house, which We had
secured for the exhibition, could have
been Tailed by ones fingers. Ihad not
a cent of money and when the La Sale
engagement closed l found that my
employer was i'm the same condition.
need not prolong this portion of the
narrative, as it is but preliminary to the
main incident to be related. Suffice
it that the assistant and myself re-
manned in pawn, so to express 1T, at
the Hardy House, while Mcclure went
back to Davenport to secure from his
relatives fresh supply of funds. We
and the panorama were relieved when
he returned. 1t rained necessarily.
The only point on the trip where there
was an audience large enough to pay
expenses was at Dowagiac. Mich. At
Kalamazoo we had Fireman's Hall and
but ten people present, three of them
were deadheads, with the result that
Mcclure was unable to pay the hall
rent, and the proprietor held his pic.
lures as security.
There is little town few miles be-
yond Kalamazoo on the Michigan Gen.
trail railroad. Immediately after the
close of my lecture at Kalamazoo Nc
CURE gave me thirty-five cents to pay
my fare to this town so that might
distribute the handbills of the piano.
ramic exhibition. He did not then
know that his appliances would be
held. 1 left toward midnight. and that
was the last I ever saw of the piano.
TaIIia anu lCS PROPRIETOR
secured the little hail contained i'm
the town, and distributed printed adj
vertisements. The trains came, but no
panorama. Two days thus passed,
when letter from Mcclure informed
me that he was about to return to Da-
yenport to obtain some more money,
and that he would come back i'm few
days.
When, after some time had elapsed,
and the promised panorama did not
come, began to feel my situation en-
barrassing. The hotel proprietor had
accepted my explanation of lack of
funds, and readily agreed to await the
arrival of Mcclure. At the end of a
week matters began to change. There
was no Mcclure, and I was not the
possessor of single nickel. was
ashamed to write for assistance to any
of my friends; in fact, could think of
none of them that would probably re-
spOnd to a request for money, under
the circumstances. became despond-
emit; my bright promises of year be-
fore had all faded, and / felt myself an
absolute failure. / was a wretched
castaway in strange region without a
friend, or resource, or hope.
One day, when sitting in bowling.
alley, and watching game between q
couple Of local experts, . stranger
entered. and, after looking around in
an Indifferent manner, finally. as If by
accident, dropped into the seat adjoin-
ing mine. Some peculiar stroke by
one of the players elected remark
from me, to which he responded. This
grew into q conversation, and laterinto
an intimacy. Hewas tall man, about
thirty years of age, with a smooth,
open face, keen brown eyes, dark hair,
and physique indicating great
strength. He was very sociable in his
methods. treating freely at the bar, and
had at his command a large supply of
money, especially in the shape of gold
coin, handful of which he was i'm the
habit of pulling from his pocket when
he had to pay for some purchase.
He seemed to take a liking for me.
He cultivated my acquaintance. He
had been about the world a good deal.
and knew many curious people and
wonderful things. In my loneliness he
was welcome distraction, and l be-
came attached TO him and we were in
separable.
One bright Sabbath he invited me to
take a walk into the country. We
strolled along the wagon road for a
mile or so, and then turned into mead.
ow, near the center of which was
large tree. To this he led the way, and
when we reached tive sat down within
the grateful shade. My companion
seemed unusually happy. His ideas